European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes wednesday april 26, 19b9 news updates Freedom seder Marion Iii. Up a group of Rabbit conducted a Freedom seder monday at the Gates of Federal prison in Ilii ois calling for the release of convicted spy Jona than Pollard and his wife Anne. This is the season of passover the season of Freedom Rabb Aaron Borow said at a news con Ference before he ceremony. We arc asking for Freedom for Jay and Anne  the 10 rabbis were joined by Pollard s parents at the Gates of the Marion Federal Penitentiary to sing songs and to perform the seder service which commemorates the exodus of jewish slaves from Egypt. Pollard then 31, was arrested by Fri agents nov. 21,198s. After he and his wife Anne hand arson pm lord Hen 25, Terc refused political Asylum at the israeli embassy in Washington. Murder conviction St. Louis a a Young Man described As a coldblooded killer was found guilty fifa nday of murdering five people during a 1987 supermarket Holdup by two gunmen who authorities say posed As cleaning men. A circuit court jury convicted Dannie Blankenship. 27, of five counts of second degree murder and one count each of robbery unlawful use of a weapon and receiving stolen property. Blankenship faces a maximum sentence of 205 years in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for june 8. The of her gunman Marvin Jennings 27, was convicted last sep tember of 16 felony counts including five counts of first degree murder he was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms with out parole Excia official s Case Washington up a Federal grand jury indicted former Cia Costa rknn5ta1ion chief Joseph Fernandez for the second time monday on charges thai he lied to obstruct investigations of the Iran Contra scandal. An earlier five count indictment against Fernandez. Was dismissed at the request of prosecutors last fall after a Federal judge in Washington complained that the Cas should have been brought ii sub Urban Northern Virginia where he allegedly committed most of . The new four count indictment similarly alleges that Fernandez lied to he Cia s inspector Gener Al s 9ftice and to the Tower com Mission about secret . Efforts to Arm the Nicaragua i Contra re Bels during a ban on such Aid. Army grounds most Huey to inspect main Rotor bolts Washington a the army monday said in has grounded its Viet Nam Era us i Huey transport helicopters for a safety inspection of main Rotor bolls. The grounding order issued late Fri Day was keeping about 3,100 choppers on the ground the sen ice said. A Usa eur spokesman tuesday Sard about 90 percent of the command s 236 Uhls require the inspection be cause of particular bolts in the Rotor. Each of the aircraft will be inspected repaired if needed and returned to serv ice had Brand Lulu said. The affected aircraft should All be Back wit i their units by the end of the week he said. Five Lth-1 helicopters under the operational control of Safe also were credit card Purchase of fuel tickets allowed. Munich Wisl Germany is customers can now use credit cards to Purchase gasoline coupons a Exchange stores the first Lime cafes has allowed. Such a practice. Cafes has allowed credit card Pur chases of retail merchandise in its exchanges since 1986, but until now Gaso line coupons had to be paid for with Ither Cash or Check. Use of credit cards at cafes service stations to buy gasoline at the pump continues to be prohibited. Heating Oil Tor Home delivery also cannot be bought on credit an cafes spokesman  affected by the grounding a spokes Man said it. Col. John Ritz an army spokes Man said the grounding order was prompted by an incident last week i which two bolts in the main Rotor Pil Low Block suddenly snapped while a us helicopter was being moved manually. He said further inspection showed cracks and stress corrosion in the bolls which sit atop the main Rotor Hub and help hold he main Rotor Blades to the Shaft. In this Case there was no Accident and no loss of  Reil. Said. But you would have a big problem if this happened in flight. So a grounding order was issued immediately to ensure  according to Reitz army aviation unit s Are being advised thai the Huey can return to operation As soon As the one time safety Check of die bolls is con ducted in All likelihood most of the Fleet will be Back up in the air very quickly headed. The 3,100 Huey helicopters As signed to Active duty units include three variants of the chopper he Basic us in transport a us in medical evacuation variant and an eh-1h electronic warfare variant. The aircraft arc deployed with army units around the world. The grounding order did not affect an other variant of the chopper used exclusively by the National guard. An t to world units woul have Thith i five Pene flight othe exc Issue Sivel . Lacks planes ships to deploy forces quickly logistics chief says be competitive in the world marketplace obviously we would like not to he said. To use the forces thai we plan so de right now out of 16 maritime a for Honor said. I think the Tow i by Jimi  Darmstadt West Germany do Spile its Mission of supplying nato with 10 divisions in 10 Days the United Stales lacks the planes and ships Nec Essary to rapidly deploy Large forces to trouble spots around the world the Pentagon s logistics chief said. Our biggest problem is having a sufficient amount of Airlift and sea Lite to de ploy forces globally l. Gen. Edward. Honor said monday. We have Many programs to Correct some of those prob lems but they Are very expensive pro Grams so they take time."-. Honor said thai even with help from nato allies shortfalls still exist. . Airlift capacity for example will not be improved until 2000, when Theair Force s Fleet of of 7 transport planes comes into service to replace the aging c-130hercules. And. On the maritime Side we re deficient in a National policy Honor said. It s not our intent to buy a Bunch of ships and have them tied up. We have to do in in such a Way that those ships get some utilization for the . Economy and that Means transport ships must b i he said High Maritim tons we rank number 10 in the world and we get Only about .4 percent of the world s commercial Trade Honor said. A nation such As ours ought to get More than  Honor the director of logistics for the joint chiefs of staff made the remark sin an interview at the 25th annual euro Pean transportation conference the three Day meeting held in a hotel in. Darmstadt West Germany conclude today. Logistics involves the procure ment maintenance and transportation of. Equipment Ami the movement of personnel. Honor also said that . Maritime services suffer from a tremendous Short age of people to staff ships and that the merchant Marine Academy is not Tak ing As Many students because they can Tel jobs for  " Honor said the creation in 1987 of . Trans come which coordinates . Military movement of the air sea and land in wartime has had a tremendous Impact on strategic planning for logistics. Obviously o have t much for Hono  the towering of East West tensions is a Good sign. 1 t l Welcome but until we Sec  things occur we need to be ready to de ploy our  also tuesday the commander of the 3rd corps support come said the Mili tary must work closely with experts in civilian transportation which Honor said would move about 95 percent of the troops and equipment in a wartime deployment. Sometimes we use words but Wedon t communicate maj. Gen. Thomas b. Arwood said in an interview. "1 think a conference such As this with its level of expertise goes a Long Way to breakdown thai Bacr and bring us closer together. It s not them and us. Now it s  Angood whose experience in Large movements of units into the european theater goes Back to. 1976, said the army s plans for handling a Large influx of troops arc Good ones. But a plan is Only effective if you can execute in he said. Ask me what our Challenge is. Can we execute what we plan army Post offices to reduce hours after reorganization led to staff cuts by Crystal Laufie Ano suit writer the Ina West Germany hampered by military staff cutbacks from a reorganization a year ago the army postal group Europe is cutting Back service hours at most of its facilities group officials said tuesday. Large Post offices that have been operating service windows for eight hours each Day will reduce service to six hours the officials said. In smaller Post offices the shortened service hours will vary de pending on the number of postal work ers customer needs and the 1ocalprime mailing limes. The operating hours of other facilities in the Vicinity also will be considered so that postal hours fail at similar times. In a separate move however array Post offices in All major shopping centers will be open on saturdays and one eve Ning per week in conjunction with Post Exchange evening hours no army Post offices Are scheduled to be closed said it. Col. Mary Jackson executive officer for the postal group. Army postal patrons should Check with their local App for exact starting limes and changes in service windows hours officials said. Since the reorganization the army postal group Europe has been struggling to maintain the same service with Lewer people the army ordered shake up trimmed personnel by i percent an converted 57 percent of the Era up s Mili tary positions to civilian jobs. _ officials said the reduced service hours should not have an Adverse Eft cd on mail distribution. In some Apps service actually May improve officials predicted because clerks who previously staffed the windows will be Able to sort arid distribute mail. Postal group officials have tried to standardize operating hours in Apos in Europe so that service windows a Eojen Al the same time each Day eliminating Hodgepodge schedules that arc difficult for customers to remember Jackson said. A half Day of. Training also is incorporated in Lac revised schedules. In Mast communities wednesday afternoons will be used to train personnel. Oiler Days will be chosen in communities where commanders think wednesday afternoons arc inconvenient Jacl Souaid. Postal officials said the changes were coordinated Vilh Community command Era while keeping customers needs in mind. -. Last year s reorganization eliminated All service operations such As mailing packages and Selling Stamps from the army wartime Mission Jackson said. The Mission change was not adopted  services. / positions identified As being necessary Only in peacetime were converted from military to civilian she said. The Rede fined postal group Mission caused the so called Civilia Bizalion of the operation and Overall reduction of personnel